Health News

Being charitable never tasted so good as
at the 2003 Gourmet Gala Nov. 16 to benefit the March of Dimes' efforts
to prevent birth defects and infant mortality.

The event, which starts at 6 p.m. at the Marriott
Hotel New Orleans, will feature cuisine from some of the city's best chefs,
a silent auction by local celebrities, music by Paul Varisco and the Milestones
and more. Dr. Juan and Ana Gershanik also will be honored during the event for
their support of the March of Dimes.

Tickets are $125 per person and proceeds will
be used by the March of Dimes to further its community service, advocacy, research
and education programs. For tickets and information, call 522-0865.

New Hope for Prostate
Cancer Patients

Patients with advanced prostate cancer that
is not responding to hormonal therapy may be eligible to participate in a clinical
trial at Tulane University to evaluate a new treatment.

The study, called ASCENT, will combine use
of DN-101 -- a new formulation of the naturally occurring hormone calcitriol
and a form of Vitamin D -- in combination with the chemotherapy drug Taxotere.
DN-101 is a once-a-week oral medication that is expected to boost calcitriol,
which is needed to enhance the effects of chemotherapy. Taxotere inhibits cancer
cell division. To be accepted for the clinical trial, patients cannot have had
prior chemotherapy treatment.

Tulane is among 60 medical centers in the
United States and Canada that are participating in ASCENT in an effort to find
a treatment that will prolong the lives of patients with advanced prostate cancer.
For more information, call 585-6121 or peruse Tulane Cancer Center's Web site:
www.som.tulane.edu/cancer/protocols.

The American Cancer Society says 189,000 men
are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States each year, and about
30,200 die from the disease annually.

Grants Should Improve
Services

A federal agency has issued a grant of $9.5
million to the Department of Health and Hospital's (DHH) Office of Mental
Health (OMH) to improve mental health services for children in New Orleans
and four nearby parishes.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration
(SAMHA) granted the funds to help the OMH increase the number of children who
receive community-based services in Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard
and St. Tammany parishes. The money also will help officials provide a wider
variety of mental health services to children, and will be instrumental in developing
intensive day treatment services, enhanced respite services, therapeutic foster
care and transitional services for young people between 18 and 22 years old.

SAMHA also granted $3.4 million to Louisiana
to develop a coordination of services for people who suffer both substance abuse
and mental health disorders. The DHH will use that money to expand statewide
an integrated treatment service piloted in Lake Charles and to develop partnerships
with community-based mental health and substance abuse groups.

The federal agency also will give the state
a $464,184 grant to promote community living through support services for people
with disabilities who now are forced to be cared for in an institution.

A New Resource

The Lighthouse for the Blind has opened Magnifiers
and More (123 State St., 899-4501), a store that features aids for the seeing
impaired, including talking watches and thermometers, large-print books, specially
adapted games, special safety kitchen knives, talking calculators, sunglasses,
home lighting, magnifiers and clocks and telephones with large numbers.

The store, which opened Oct. 20, initially
will serve customers from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and later
may be open on Saturday.

A Race With Teeth

The New Orleans Dental Hygienists' Association
and Greater New Orleans Running Association are sponsoring a Molarthon
at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 22 to benefit area children.

The Molarthon features a 5K and 1-mile fun
run that start at the Magazine Street entrance to Audubon Park. Entertainment
and refreshments will be available.

Registration is $15 until Nov. 14 and $17
after that date, and includes an event T-shirt. Proceeds will benefit A Child's
Wish of Greater New Orleans. For more information, call 891-9999.

See Clearly Now

St. Charles Vision (3200 Severn Ave., Metairie, 887-2020) has
teamed up with Vision USA to provide free, comprehensive eye exams to workers
and their families in the New Orleans area who can't afford the services but
don't qualify for government aid or health-care assistance. In some cases, eyewear
may also be provided at little or no cost.

Applications for the services will be accepted year round.
To quality, applicants must be part of a household with at least one person
working full or part time, fall within an established income level, have no
insurance that covers eye exams and cannot have had an eye exam within the past
two years. For more information, call St. Charles Vision's Dr. Ivan Bank at
887-2020, contact the national organization at (800) 766-4466, or log onto www.aoa.org/visionusa.

Vision USA is a national, charitable program developed in 1991
by optometrists who are members of the American Optometric Association.

Learn and Live

Hammond-based Louisiana Foundation Against
Sexual Assault (LaFASA) has scheduled a three-day conference for a range of
professionals who deal with preventing sexual assault, prosecuting then treating
the offenders and helping victims to recover.

The conference -- "Where is the Outrage?"
-- starts at 10 a.m. Dec. 3 and ends at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 at the Holiday Inn
South (9940 Airline Hwy., Baton Rouge). The cost is $175 in advance ($125 LaFASA
members and $75 for full-time students), or $195 at the conference site. Single-day
admission is $75. LaFASA will raffle a four-day cruise to Cozumel the last day
of the meeting.

Some of the issues covered at the conference
include Internet sexual exploitation, methods of prosecuting sex crimes, developing
response teams, dealing with sexual assault issues on college campuses, forensic
interviews, sexual assault of the elderly, supervising sex offenders, prevention
and more.

Avoid the Flu

If you haven't already gotten a flu vaccination,
it's time to visit your physician for a preventative shot. Health officials
recommend that the elderly and others at high risk for complications from the
flu receive the immunization this month. Others should seek a flu shot by the
end of December. The flu season extends through March

The Centers for Disease Control reports that
as many as 33,000 people die in the United States each year from pneumonia and
influenza, 90 percent of them over the age of 65.

Shots are free to people on Medicare, and
most others will be charged $10 to $20.

A Brunch for Survivors

East Jefferson General Hospital (4200 Houma
Blvd., Metairie; www.eastjeffhospital.com)
has scheduled a free Cancer Survivor's Brunch from 9 a.m. to noon Nov.
15 at the hospital's conference center. The event will feature speakers, door
prizes and an opportunity to speak with other survivors.

The event is free and open to anyone who has
survived cancer or is living with the disease, but seating is limited. Call
456-5000 for reservations.